One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant schizanthus is to examine the USDA zone info for Chicago Heights.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant schizanthus until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Chicago Heights is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chicago Heights the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chicago Heights is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chicago Heights there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago Heights

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Chicago Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chicago Heights.